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The coloured panel above the mode display window is used to select between
STANDARD/LONG/AUDIO ONLY record. Click on this panel when in STOP mode to change the
type of recording, the default is STANDARD, which will appear a few seconds after issuing a STOP
command. To make a recording, ensure the correct record type is displayed and that the time position
displayed is correct, then click RECORD. The PAUSE and STOP buttons are available to interrupt
the record session. The AUDIO ONLY recording is always performed at standard frame rate.
For playback, the V.PLAY button will play both video and audio, the A.PLAY button is for AUDIO
ONLY play but will also playback the soundtrack from a video recording. During audio play the DVR
video out is a colour bar screen. The coloured panel will indicate the current playback mode as
determined from the data read from the hard disc.
The DISC 1 / 2 option buttons are for DVR systems fitted with removable second drives. If your
system does not have a removable drive always ensure that DISC 1 is selected.
Record/Playback Settings.
The ‘Settings’ menu allows some control over the record and playback parameters. The ‘Quality’ and
‘Detail’ settings control the video compression servo mechanism during record. ‘Quality’ is a number
between 1 (low quality) and 32 (maximum quality) and it sets a limit on the compression factor applied
to the video data. ‘Detail’ goes from 1 (low detail) to 8 (maximum detail) and restricts the high
frequency components of the image. Neither figure equates to any standard unit but they can be used
to apply arbitrary limits on the picture record quality. Their main purpose is to overcome record
problems due to excessive detail or timing ‘jitter’ in the source video such as recording from VHS
where the highest frequencies are generally tape noise.
During record the actual ‘quality figure’ applied depends upon the amount of detail in the image, and
this will vary during a record session. As an aid to analysing the recorded quality, the compression
figure used on each frame is displayed in the ‘Settings’ panel as (Comp -xx) where xx directly relates
to ‘Quality’. This is displayed during both record and playback.
When the DVR is first switched on ‘Quality’ and ‘Detail’ default to 30 and 7 respectively which are
reasonable values for most good quality images, however both can be set at any time, even during the
record process. Suggested values for VHS are Quality -25, Detail -6.
There is a delay between sending a new record setting to the DVR and it being displayed in the
Settings panel. This is because the settings data is transmitted back from the DVR once every few
seconds.
The ‘Scan Rate’ setting is used in playback to set the scan forward/back speed. The SCAN function
effectively pauses at a new frame every 200mS, and the control panel uses the Scan Rate setting as the
number of frames to jump (forward or back) between each pause.
The ‘Interval Time’ setting is used in ‘Time Lapse’ recording/playback to define a time between
grabbing video frames. The interval time is specified in mS and can be between 500 - 999999ms.
